Monday, July 09, 2007

It was a typical sleepy summer weekend in the woods this past weekend. The stormy rages at last week’s end are past, and only the 3H’s (hazy, hot and humid) remain. The only time the woods is active is in the early mornings before the temperature reduces everyone and everything to the proverbial dish rags.

That said, the early mornings here are still busy enough. Each morning Dog and I see deer. Perhaps because of the weather, they seem to wait longer to bounce away from us than is typical. So we get closer to them than we usually do, much to Dog’s delight. They flag their tails but don’t seem overly perturbed. I think they know we won’t give chase, and that this is little more than a game.

Baby Dog is smaller and finds groundhogs and rabbits more her style. Each morning we pass a groundhog’s hole, and she has taken to sneaking up on it and then freezing in a point. She is a Heinz 57 varieties kind of dog, and the only discernable species is a chow chow, which aren’t known, as far as I know, for their hunting or pointing ability. To see her suddenly freeze, one front foot folded neatly under her when she nears the hole, is my morning’s amusement.

I still haven’t seen any signs of baby animals venturing out on their own—except for a few rabbits. I’m convinced the foxes have a den of kits nearby, but I haven’t found it or seen the young ones yet. More surprising to me is that I haven’t seen any fawns yet, though I am sure they are also near.

Note: It will be light to no posting from me the rest of this week. I will be off the mountain and away from both forest and the computer at an annual conference for work. I’ll expect to be back next week on my normal Monday-Friday posting schedule. Till then, keep your eyes open, and I'll do the same.

About Me

I live in a cabin in the forests of Pennsylvania. I write about what I see and do in the natural world around me. I've been a hawkwatcher for more than 20 years, a birder for longer than that, and a crayfish-catcher since I was a polywog.